Mexico City, Mexico

Having settled in here in London I must admit I miss Mexico. Quite a bit. What an awesome place to visit. Mexico was the culture shock and the push out of our comfort zone that we had been craving toward the end of our time in the States. It was the first place where, by and large, the population (including much of the hospitality industry) spoke very little English. It was time to immerse ourselves in Latino culture, the start of around four months of being around Spanish-speaking, Salsa-dancing, passionate and friendly people of various Latin-American destinations…

Day 112 – 117, Mexico City

After saying goodbye to Carter and Jade who put us up for another night in their funky converted office apartment in Dallas, 15 March saw us fly from Dallas-Fort Worth to Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. With our trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico in hand, Meg and I took a cab to the Centro Historico of Mexico City to Hostel Moneda, around the corner from the Zócalo, the Palacio Nacional (National Palace) and the Metropolitan Cathedral. In Mexico, every city and town has a Zócalo, which is the town square, usually in the Centro Historico (historic centre). The Zócalo of Mexico City (also known as the Plaza de la Constitución) is one of the largest plazas in the world.

Hostel Moneda charged 140 Pesos per night (US $14), which was a little more than we expected for shared dorm rooms but there was free breakfast (the best free hostel breakfasts we had anywhere – Mexican eggs, frijoles, bread, cornflakes/coco pops and varied every day!), a free downtown walking tour plus we did meet some cool people there.

We were lucky enough to catch up again with the ever-lovely Maxine (Web Directions) for a post-SXSW Mexican meal and beer at Casa de las Sirenas, a relatively expensive restaurant that was quite charming in its décor but otherwise mediocre. It was an extra treat to watch her work her photographic magic.

Downtown walking tour and Lucha Libre

Our second day in Mexico City saw us get right down to business with Hostel Moneda’s free downtown walking tour. This was no stroll with a staff member down the street to look at old buildings but rather a detailed tour of the Centro Historico with a very knowledgeable English-speaking tour guide. On this tour we saw an archaeological excavation of the Aztec Templo Mayor (Great Pyramid), destroyed and built over by the Spanish, had a stroll through the Metropolitan Cathedral – built over an Aztec sacrificial site (a glass covered excavation shows buried remains), and the Palacio Nacional which featured some fantastic murals by Diego Rivera depicting five hundred years of turbulent history. We managed to get lots of photos of the murals but to see them and have each scene explained by a guide is definitely much better.

Street markets on Calle Moneda

National Palace mural

National Palace mural featuring Frida Kahlo

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Tacos al Pastor

Traditional drumming at the Zócalo

Cleansing ritual at the Zócalo

Photos courtesy of Meg. Click the thumbnails to see the larger versions… go on, do it. Now.

On our downtown tour we also walked through the Post Office Palace, a literal palace complete with gold plated décor which is actually a functioning post office (it also features an art gallery and a museum), and then walked to the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) where we observed its neoclassical architecture (designed by Adamo Boari in 1904), with its opulent marble facade and pegasus statues. We ended the tour with a stroll down Gante, a paved off road with lots of bars and eateries and enjoyed some traditional Tacos (rather different to Californian Mexican or Tex-Mex food – smaller and more minimal, but definitely tasty) and a walk to a restaurant on 5 de Mayo for some more traditional cuisine and some Mexican beer.

Mexican Lucha Libre seems to take a leaf out of the USA’s WWF with its glitziness and drama, but with a real focus on acrobatics and aerial stunts. All up it was quite impressive in a cheesy way…

Afterward we strolled around the lively Zócalo then chilled out back at the hostel before joining a large group for a night out at the Mexican wrestling, the Lucha Libre.

This was a weird but interesting and memorable night. Firstly, the guys who were running the tour ran into the hostel yelling at everyone that it was time to go (all in good fun), all the while wearing Mexican wrestling masks. We were all herded into 3 large people-mover vans that looked much like American FBI trucks. Ducking and weaving through night-time traffic, crazy Mexican style we then marched into the stadium where we dined on Domino’s pizza and hot dogs and chugged down Coronas in plastic cups.

Mexican Lucha Libre seems to take a leaf out of the USA’s WWF “sports entertainment” with its glitziness, theatrical antics and character driven drama, but in terms of the action, there was a real focus on acrobatics and aerial stunts. Most of it was 3 on 3 and there were about 4 or 5 events, including female wrestling (sorry, no mud guys). All up it was quite impressive in a cheesy way, just the way I like it. (This was a real contrast to the Thai boxing we’d watched a couple of months earlier in Koh Samui.)

The tour and entry cost us 180 Pesos (US $18) each which included transport, entry and some tequila afterwards (which nobody seemed interested in). Unfortunately we weren’t permitted to take photos of the event but we managed to get some shots of our Lucha Libre night’s highlights on TV.

Already in our first two days we were getting a major taste of what Mexico had to offer.

Plaza de las Tres Culturas and Teotihuacán

Sunday March 18 saw us on a tour to Teotihuacán, an Aztec pyramid complex, with several stops along the way. This tour was 250 Pesos (US $25) each for a very educational full day trip, again organised by Hostel Moneda. We started out at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Plaza of the Three Cultures). This place was chock full of history over three eras.

Here we saw the Aztec ruins of Tlatelolco, with a marketplace, a calendaric temple (the way that it was constructed allow it to serve as a calendar) used by Aztec priests for religious rituals, an Aztec cemetery and an altar to the Aztec deity, Quetzlcoatl.

The plaza was the scene of a lot of turmoil. Hundreds of protesters were massacred by the Mexican military on the night before the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Built right on this site, on the foundations of a razed Aztec building was a five hundred year old Spanish Cathedral, the Templo de Santiago. This along with just about every other colonial building in Mexico City seemed to be leaning one way or the other. We learned that the historic centre of Mexico City was an island (Mexico de Tenochtitlán) in the centre of a large lake. The Spanish managed to drain this lake by building a series of irrigation canals, drawing water outwardly, and building their large city on the drained lake bed. The result of this is a city built on soft soil with very few large buildings standing perfectly straight.

On the south side of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas is the Mexican Foreign Ministry building. Surrounding the area are large high-rise residential buildings. Thus the Three Cultures are the classical Aztec, the colonial Spanish, and the modern Mexican cultures.

The plaza was also the scene of a lot of turmoil. Standing in front of the entrance to the Cathedral is a monument commemorating the hundreds of protesters who were massacred by the Mexican military ten days before the 1968 Mexico City Olympics opening ceremony. As usual, the details behind this government massacre were never completely revealed, and unsurprisingly, evidence of US government involvement later came to light.

Later, several of the surrounding high-rise residential apartment buildings collapsed in the Mexico City earthquakes of 1985. Thousands of people (and more likely tens of thousands) reportedly died in the disaster.

This same site was were the Aztecs made their last stand against the Spanish in 1521, where 40,000 Aztecs died.

Basilica de Guadalupe

Our group got back in the van and headed for the next stop on the tour, the Basilica de Guadalupe, a religious site featuring the Capilla del Cerrito (Chapel on the hill), the Basilica Antigua (old Basilica) and the very large Basilica de Nuestra SeÃ±ora de Guadalupe (Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe).

The Capilla del Cerrito is a chapel built on the location where it was believed the Virgin Mary appeared to an indigenous Christian convert in 1531. She became known as the Lady of Guadalupe and went on to be the patron saint of Mexico and is still largely revered in Mexico today. The large Basilica next door is a major attraction to Christian pilgrims from all over Mexico, who walk from the entry into the Basilica on their knees praying for help for their sick loved ones or for cures for their own ailments and disabilities. The Basilica is basically a large church with daily services and crowds of people travelling beneath the altar on travelators to take a peek at the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe that hangs there.

The Basilica Antigua was the first Basilica built at the site is a colonial church that stands crookedly due to the soft soil of the region and the many people visiting over the centuries and is now more of a museum of religious artworks. It is held together by a network of steel cables. Just outside there was a sculpture of Pope John Paul II made from coins donated by the people.

The place was like a massive Christian theme park, a “Virgin Mary World” of sorts.

Teotihuacán

Our last stop on the tour was the archaeological site of Teotihuacán. Before entering the site though, we had a demonstration of the uses of the Maguey cactus and some obsidian stone carving. Maguey is the Mexican super cactus, from which one could make (somewhat crude) sewing needles, paper from its inner lining and all of three different types of alcoholic beverage – Pulque, Tequila* and Mezcal (in order of strength). This was quite an interesting demonstration which ended in said beverage tasting. The Mescal gave us the biggest kick, especially for Meg, as she was brave enough to choose the shot that had the worm in it.

If the Basilica de Guadalupe was a Christian theme park, the pyramid complex of Teotihuacán was a Pagan theme park, demonstrating the duality of spiritual belief of the average Mexican.

Next was a demo of the carving of obsidian. Obsidian is a volcanic stone that was used for weapons and decoration by the Aztecs. It has a deep black colour with the ability to take on different colours when wet and polished. Naturally, after our demonstration and liquor tasting session in the midday heat prior to eating, we were escorted to the air-conditioned gift shop, the idea being the Mezcal would loosen our purse strings enough to buy the usual statues and textiles.

After a light lunch we visited the temple site, where we saw the large and impressive pyramids of the sun and moon. By this time I thought it was way too hot to brave the queues and climb the pyramids. Nearby was the Temple of Quetzlcoatl (which we were told was closed) and a museum (which actually was closed). I noticed a popular trend amongst Mexicans, which was climbing the pyramids dressed in white to stand in the sun and ‘receive energy’ at the top. This is especially popular during the summer solstice, where massive crowds gather at this and other archaeological sites.

If the Basilica de Guadalupe was a Christian theme park, the pyramid complex of Teotihuacán was a Pagan theme park of sorts, demonstrating the duality of spiritual belief of the average Mexican.

Meg and I ended the day by getting a cool beer and some good Mexican food at the Majestic Hotel, kicking back on a balcony overlooking the Zócalo and watching the sunset with some friends we made on that day on the tour.

* I have since found out that Tequila is made from a cactus closely related to the Maguey.

Plaza de las Tres Culturas

Monument at Plaza de las Tres Culturas

Statue of JPII

Basilica de Guadalupe

Obsidian carving

Temple of the Moon at Teotihuacán

At the Temple of the Sun at Teotihuacán

Click the thumbnails to see the bigger versions of the pics (I took these ones.)

My childhood knowledge of Spanish was coming in handy but it was certainly a dive-in-headfirst refresher course, and an enjoyable one at that. Three days in Mexico City turned into five, and they went by quickly. We managed to squeeze a fairly full experience of at least the Centro Historico in during that time. Our next stop was a day in the charming town of Taxco to the north of Mexico City before returning to Mexico City for one more night, with the realisation that after that, we wouldn’t return this way on this trip. Our plan was to work our way east, our next flight being out of Guatemala in roughly a month’s time, but we were already thinking about when we could come back to Mexico in future…